A drone performance ahead of the 36th National Games shared linking it to Australian PM Anthony Albanese’s visit to India.

The video dates back to September 2022 and shows a drone performance prior to the 36th National Games in Ahamedabad

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently paid an official visit to India from March 8 to 11, meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to boost bilateral relations. After arriving in Ahamedabad on his first trip to India, he went to the Sabarmati Ashram, a place widely linked with Mahatma Gandhi. Following this, video footage of a drone show purportedly showing drones arranging in an order to create India, the Statue of Unity, and various other such displays has been widely circulated, with the claim that it was captured in Gujarat’s Ahamedabad on the Sabarmati riverfront to welcome Australia’s Prime Minister.

The caption of the video states, “A drone show to welcome Australian P. M. at Riverfront, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. मेरा भारत बदल रहा है ”.

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The same video was also being shared on Twitter with the caption “Sabarmati River Front drone and laser show- This was how PM @narendramodi and PM@AlboMP were welcomed in Ahmedabad last week. Simply WOW”

Fact Check- 

A Google reverse image search using the key frames of the video led us to a tweet on PM Modi’s official handle with the caption “Spectacular drone show in Ahmedabad as the city prepares for the National Games opening ceremony”. He posted several images of the viral video there on 28 September 2022.

In further search, we found the viral video was tweeted by the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation on 29 September 2022. The tweet says it is a drone show that took place on September 28, 2022, at the Sabarmati Riverfront.

Times of India report from September 28, 2022 described the event as, “As many as 600 drones were displayed in a spectacular show over Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad on the eve of inauguration of National Games 2022. People enjoyed the show. The drones were prepared by the students of IIT. Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi witnessed the show.”

As per the PIB press release of 29, September 2023 that PM Narendra Modi declared the 36th National games open at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. “Such careful use of technology, like a drone, will take Gujarat, India to new heights”, Modi recalled the grand drone show that took place in Ahmedabad the previous day. 

We also found the visuals from the viral video in a video news uploaded by the Hindustan Times Youtube channel on 29, September 2022. This video is titled “Ahead of PM Modi’s two-day Gujarat visit, 600 drones lit up the skies over Sabarmati River Front in Ahmedabad”. It is mentioned that the drone light show was hosted to mark the opening of the National Games.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found that the viral claim is to be Misleading; The video does not show drone show to welcome Australian PM Anthony Albanese in India. The viral video dates back to September 2022 and shows a drone performance prior to the 36th National Games in Ahamedabad.